Enthusiasts paid homage to the products of the industrial roller coaster known as the British auto industry while Hurricane Irma ravaged the Caribbean before heading north. The spectacular weather greeting visitors to the 15th annual Atlanta British Car Fayre would soon give way to the first tropical storm warning in the recorded history of Atlanta. Inclement weather could have been a fitting tribute to the products from the rain-drenched isles, but instead, the day dawned as bright as the future once seemed for the moribund industry that created them.

Henry Austin, manager of the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company designed and built the first All-British automobile in 1900. A year later, backed by the Vickers brothers, Austin started The Wolseley Tool and Motorcar Company, Ltd., creating the first volume British auto manufacturer. When his contract with the Vickers brothers expired in 1905, Austin started the Austin Motor Company, Ltd. It took a while for Austin’s venture to gain traction as Wolseley dominated the market until 1913 when Henry Ford opened his manufacturing facility in Manchester. That year Ford led the market with 7310 sales, followed by Wolseley (3000), Humber (2500), Rover (1800), and Sunbeam (1700).

The rough and tumble history of the British auto industry was off to a great start. In 1932 the UK overtook France as Europe’s largest auto manufacturer, a title the Brits held until 1955. In the wake of World War II, steel was a coveted commodity. Limited supply led to an edict that gave priority to companies exporting at least 75% of production. Limited competition from Europe combined with unrequited demand for cars in America and Australia provided the opportunity for Britain to sell 52% of the planet’s exported vehicles, but all was not well.

American-owned manufacturers Ford and Vauxhall claimed 29% of the British market by 1952, prompting Viscount Nuffield, AKA William Morris, to merge the Nuffield Organization with Austin, thereby creating British Motor Corporation (BMC). The company’s plethora of brands, including Austin, Morris, MG, Riley, and Wolseley was responsible for 40% of the market, but the resulting conglomerate left a lot to be desired.

Labor-intensive manufacturing processes, an uncompetitive cost structure, a redundant corporate structure, and brands that competed with each other threatened profitability. BMC compounded its problems in 1966 when it absorbed Jaguar and renamed itself British Motor Holdings. Meanwhile commercial vehicle manufacturer Leyland acquired Standard-Triumph and Rover. By this time the British motor industry — a world player only a decade earlier — was staring disaster in the face. Corporate hubris and outright bumbling reduced British Motor Holdings to a shadow of its former self, and contentious labor unions set out to deal the death blow. In an effort to save British Motor Holdings, the government engineered a merger with Leyland-Triumph-Rover, a company that was successful at the time, but it was too little too late. Within decades the bulk of the industry was British in name only. Germans (Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mini), Indians (Jaguar, Land Rover), and the Chinese (Lotus) now own the storied British brands and reap the rewards.

While the profits go elsewhere, the industry in Britain is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. Production is up, the products are competitive, and 80% of production goes abroad. It’s a victory for the nation’s GDP, but a loss for enthusiasts who love the quirky, personality-filled British cars of yesteryear that attracted enthusiasts to historic downtown Norcross, Georgia on a day when the roads and motels of Atlanta were packed with refugees fleeing a disaster of another kind.